Texas high school basketball star gets probation in roommate's beating death, hopes to play again

By Mariah Medina, San Antonio Express-News

Updated
12:16 pm CDT, Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Johnathan Turner plead guilty to manslaughter on July 6, 2015 for his role in the beating death of his roommate Troy Causey, Jr. who was a member of a rival Dallas high school team.

Johnathan Turner plead guilty to manslaughter on July 6, 2015 for his role in the beating death of his roommate Troy Causey, Jr. who was a member of a rival Dallas high school team.

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Johnathan Turner plead guilty to manslaughter on July 6, 2015 for his role in the beating death of his roommate Troy Causey, Jr. who was a member of a rival Dallas high school team.

Johnathan Turner plead guilty to manslaughter on July 6, 2015 for his role in the beating death of his roommate Troy Causey, Jr. who was a member of a rival Dallas high school team.

Texas high school basketball star gets probation in roommate's beating death, hopes to play again

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A former Dallas high school basketball star received seven years of probation for the 2014 beating death of a member of a rival high school team on Monday.

Johnathan Tramaine Turner, 20, was initially charged with murder after further investigation concluded that Troy Causey, Jr. was beaten even after he was on the ground, but the charge was lessened to a misdemeanor when the case reached a grand jury, according to the Dallas Morning News.

After Turner was sentenced on Monday, Causey's mother told the Dallas newspaper that "this is not justice." Since the beating death of her oldest son, Causey said she has not been able to sleep, is currently battling depression and has hair loss which has kept her from her work as a realtor.

"His attorney said Turner plans to enroll in school, with the hope of playing college basketball now that his case has been resolved," Sarah Mervosh of the Dallas Morning News wrote.

The case sparked an investigation into Dallas ISD athletics after it was revealed that Causey and Turner lived together in a recruiting scandal in which coaches fabricated residency documents for students to play for their respective high school.